Counseling Military Families: What Mental Health Professionals Need to Know pptx

[...]... service member needs them They want to know how to recognize the danger signs for themselves, their children, and the service member, and they want to know that seeking care will result in improved health at no danger to their service member’s career (Raezer, 2007) The Increasing Need Navy Commander Mark Russell, in an article for USA Today ( Military Faces Mental Crisis,” 2007), stated, Mental health trauma... and families to receive up to six free face -to- face mental health visits with a professional outside the chain of command The counseling through Military OneSource is not what the military terms “medical mental health counseling but rather assistance for family members in dealing with the stresses of deployment or reunion—or the kind of service that most professionally licensed mental health counselors... begin to predict the future or write about what military families might have to face in the future Therefore, I have attempted to touch on the consistent and more general issues that all military families face, regardless of the time in history It is imperative that civilian services and programs that target military populations begin to have additional information to better prepare to meet the needs... responsive mental health services, from stress management programs and preventative mental health counseling through therapeutic mental health care (Raezer, 2007, p. 1) Both the Army Mental Health Advisory Team III (MHAT-III, 2006) and IV (MHAT-IV, 2007) reports further link the need to address family issues as a means of reducing stress on deployed service members The teams from both years found that the top... continue to rise and remain high even after military operations scale down in Iraq and Afghanistan They continue to hear from families that more must be done to link service members and families with the services they require and find ways for the families to get the information they need about posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other mental health issues Families want to know mental health services... activities Embedding Mental Health Professionals Despite this history, one of the practices in some current combat zones is the embedding of mental health professionals into the units; a retired psychiatrist explained that mental health services have increased exponentially in the past decade more because of what he called “the possibility of disaster” than because of a current need In reality, he said,... were better able to deal with subsequent deployments after counseling Overcoming the Stigma When a congressional task force determined what factors must be addressed to enhance the mental health of service members, a major issue reported in the Proceedings of the Task Force on Mental Health Care (Department of Defense Task Force on Mental Health, 2007b) was the awareness and willingness to access services... robust continuum of easilyaccessible and responsive mental health services, from stress management programs and preventative mental health counseling through therapeutic mental health care” (p. 4) The authors of the NMFA statement shared that there is a need to expand services and support the program already in existence, called Military OneSource Military OneSource is available for active duty service... accepting of seeking mental health services, whereas the Air Force is more likely to see it as a way of maintaining personal health and wellness to complete the mission A major reason for this concern is the lack of confidentiality, which is often limited in the military human service setting, compared to the civilian mental health setting, because all actions are subject to review by the military member’s... though the military has made great strides by improving schools, health RT6889Z.indb 5 4/24/08 6:01:38 PM 6  •  Counseling Military Families programs, and child care (Crary, 2007), they have never before been faced with the toughest problem of all, which is doing right by the ever-growing ranks of the bereaved There is no greater need than for Congress to ensure access to quality mental health services . intent to infringe. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Hall, Lynn K. (Lynn Karen), 1946- Counseling military families: what mental health professionals. unexpected. ey will always be tested. And they will always need up -to- snu mental health professionals to help them navigate rough waters and arrive at a calmer